Kathleen Baker (born February 28, 1997) is an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who specializes in

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

and

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

events. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and a silver medal in the individual 100-meter backstroke. She is the former world-record holder in 100 meter backstroke, set on July 28, 2018, in 58.00 at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, CA. Baker is also the former world-record holder in the 4x100 meter medley relay with

Lilly King Lillia Camille King (born February 10, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer who specialized in breaststroke. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke competition and also won a gold medal in the 4x1 ...

, Dana Vollmer, and

Simone Manuel ] Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in Freestyle swimming, freestyle events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold ...

Early life

Baker attended

Forsyth Country Day School Forsyth Country Day School (FCDS) is a coeducational private day school located in Lewisville, North Carolina. FCDS was established in 1970. Accreditation FCDS is accredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and the Southe ...

until the tenth grade and then was home-schooled, so it would be easy to travel back and forth between

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the fifth-most populous city in North Carolina and the 91st-most populous city in the Uni ...

, North Carolina and

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

to swim and train with SwimMAC Carolina. Her mother swam for the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, and her older sister, Rachel, currently swims for

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

. In 2010, Baker was diagnosed with

Crohn's disease Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, abdominal distension, and weight loss. Complications outside of the ...

Career

College swimming

Baker attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where she competed for the California Golden Bears swimming and diving team for three years from 2015 to 2018.

2014–2015

At the 2014 Phillips 66 Nationals, the qualification meet for the 2014 Pan Pacifics, Baker finished second in the 200-meter backstroke and qualified for the team. She finished ninth in the 200-meter backstroke at Pan Pacifics, just outside the final. Baker was also selected to the 2015 World Championships roster in the 100-meter backstroke. She placed eighth in the final of the 100-meter backstroke. She also swam in the prelims for the 4x100-meter medley relay, but did not receive a medal as the final squad finished fourth.

2016 Summer Olympics

At the 2016 Olympic Trials, Baker qualified for her first Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke by finishing second with a time of 59.29. In

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

, she won a silver medal in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 58.75, three tenths behind the winner

Katinka Hosszú Katinka Hosszú (; born 3 May 1989) is a Hungarian former competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is the owner of a Budap ...

. She was not considered by many to be a medal threat since she had never broken 59 seconds prior to the Olympics. Baker also won a gold medal alongside

Dana Vollmer Dana Whitney Vollmer (born November 13, 1987) is a former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States ...

, and

as the lead off of the 4x100-meter medley relay.

2017

At the Swimming at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships, 2017 World Championships, Baker won three medals. She won silver in the 100-meter backstroke, bronze in the 200-meter backstroke, and gold in the 4x100-meter medley relay. Though she did not medal in the 50-meter backstroke, Baker broke Natalie Coughlin's American record in the event in the semifinals with a time of 27.48. Baker led off the women's 4x100-meter medley relay, with the team winning with a time of 3:51.55. The team of Baker,

Kelsi Worrell Kelsi Worrell Dahlia ( Worrell; born July 15, 1994) is a former American competitive Swimming (sport), swimmer and 2016 Olympic champion in the 4x100 medley relay who swam for the University of Louisville and specialized in butterfly and freesty ...

, and

broke the 2012 List of world records in swimming, world record of 3:52.05 set by

Missy Franklin Melissa Franklin Johnson (née Franklin; born May 10, 1995) is an American former competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist. She held the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course) from 2012 to 2019. As a member of the ...

Rebecca Soni Rebecca Soni (born March 18, 1987) is an American former competition swimmer and breaststroke specialist who is a six-time Olympic medalist. She is a former world record-holder in the 100-meter breaststroke (short and long course) and the 200-m ...

, and

Allison Schmitt Allison Rodgers Schmitt (born June 7, 1990) is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle events. She is a four-time Olympian and a ten-time Olympic medalist. In her Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Sc ...

Personal life

In July 2021, Baker announced her engagement to her long-time boyfriend and

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

, Sean Dowling.D'Addona, Dan (July 19, 2021)
"Olympic Gold Medalist Kathleen Baker Announces Engagement"
''

Swimming World } ''Swimming World'' is a US-based quarterly swimming magazine that was first published in a magazine format as ''Junior Swimmer'' in January 1960. It concurrently runs online websites ''Swimming World Magazine'' and ''Swimming World News'' (kn ...

''. Retrieved October 30, 2021.Dornan, Ben (July 19, 2021)
"US Olympian Kathleen Baker Announces Engagement To US Marine Sean Dowling"
''

SwimSwam ''SwimSwam'' is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012. History The news organization was founded by Braden Keith, Garrett ...

''. Retrieved January 15, 2022.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Kathleen 1997 births American female backstroke swimmers American female freestyle swimmers California Golden Bears women's swimmers Living people Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Olympic silver medalists for the United States in swimming People with Crohn's disease Sportspeople from Winston-Salem, North Carolina Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Swimmers from North Carolina World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming 21st-century American sportswomen

Early life

Career

College swimming

2014–2015

2016 Summer Olympics

2017

Personal life

See also

References

External links